Solar

Minnesota has abundant solar energy. In fact, Minneapolis and Saint Paul were named "Solar America Cities" by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008. A DOE grant (PDF) allows Minneapolis to dedicate resources through its Solar in the Cities Initiative (PDF). The City will identify strategies that will result in solar-friendly policies, practices, and regulations, with the goal of increasing solar capacity by 500 percent over the two years of the grant.

Solar power comes in two forms:

Solar electricity – also called photovoltaics – is the use of sunlight to directly generate electricity.

Solar thermal systems use sunlight to provide heat for domestic hot water and space heating. Passive solar thermal uses siting principles or building components like concrete or stone to absorb and store heat from the sun. Active solar thermal systems use collectors and mechanical components to supplement a building’s heating needs.

Interested in your own solar energy system?

Find the solar potential of your property

The City of Minneapolis has built the Find My Solar Suitability application, which allows you to find the potential for solar PV on any structure in the city.